Changes in the rhythmic action of the body producing Melatonin may be why the elderly don’t sleep as well according to study published in the February 2002 edition of the American Journal of Physiology--Endocrinology and Metabolism Bethesda, MD – Getting a good night’s sleep can become more difficult with age. Survey studies have shown that up to one-third of older individuals report difficulty maintaining sleep on a recurring basis and more than one-half report occasional problems with their sleep. The depth and continuity of sleep changes with age because there is a lower percentage of sleep spent in the deepest stages of non-REM sleep, there are more frequent arousals and awakenings during the sleep episode, and the inability to sustain sleep for the desired duration frequently occurs. Copyright © 2002, The American Physiological Society

Keyword: Sleep; Hormones & Behavior
Link ID: 1535 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Average insect brain should help spot defects and their causes. HELEN PEARSON A creature of little brain, the fruit fly is popular with geneticists Two hair's breadths long and five across - that's the average capacity of a fly's brain, German researchers have calculated. They hope to set a benchmark for crania by which oddballs can be judged. Although it is a creature of little brain, the fruit fly (Drosophila) is popular with geneticists. Researchers often study flies that lack a particular gene, looking for flaws that might hint at the gene's function in the body. Rein, K. The Drosophila Standard Brain. Current Biology, 12, 227 - 231, (2002). © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2002

Keyword: Evolution; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 1533 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Stacey Burling Inquirer Staff Writer What if someone could take a picture of your brain and tell what you were thinking? Should drugs that make people think more clearly be given only to people with mental problems or made available to all people? These are the kinds of questions that make science-fiction aficionados salivate, but it's only a matter of time before the real world will have to grapple with them, too, said a group of brain science experts who met last week at the University of Pennsylvania. While much of the world has been focusing on stem cells or cloning lately, speakers at the symposium on "Bioethics and the Neuroscience Revolution" said issues raised by our rapidly expanding understanding of the brain will be among the thorniest society must confront. Speakers included Steven Pinker, a psychology professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Steven Hyman, Harvard University provost and former director of the National Institute of Mental Health; and Martha Farah, director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Penn. In many ways, speakers said, scientists' exposure of the biological underpinnings of behavior challenge the way people view humanity itself and the nature of responsibility. How will our moral concepts be affected by knowledge of the extent to which genetics and experience shape the physical structure and function of the human brain? © 2001 philly and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 1532 - Posted: 06.24.2010

BY MERRITT MCKINNEY NEW YORK - (Reuters Health) - Scientists have discovered abnormalities in the brains of people with autism that may explain some of the symptoms of the disorder. Compared to people without autism, people with the disorder have more ``minicolumns'' in the brain, according to Dr. Manuel F. Casanova of the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. Casanova is the lead author of a study published in the February 12th issue of the journal Neurology. In an interview with Reuters Health, Casanova compared minicolumns to computer chips that process information. Each minicolumn is a ``basic unit of the brain'' that takes in information, processes it and then responds, he explained. SOURCE: Neurology 2002;58:428-432.

Keyword: Autism
Link ID: 1531 - Posted: 02.13.2002

More people are taking anti-depressants Patients are not being given full details about the safety and effectiveness of anti-depressant medications, a report suggests. Sue Freeman The magazine argues that people may consider alternatives to anti-depressants if they had more information. More than 22 million prescriptions were written for anti-depressant medication in England in 2000, up from nine million in 1991. The drugs cost the NHS £310m a year. However, some clinicians believe the increasing use of the drugs is not necessarily a good thing. (C) BBC

Keyword: Depression
Link ID: 1530 - Posted: 02.12.2002

Emma Young Transplants of mouse stem cells into the brains of patients with Huntington's Chorea could help slow the associated dementia and loss of coordination, says UK company ReNeuron. It hopes to start clinical trials of the technique in the US early in 2003. Huntington's is caused by an inherited genetic mutation, which leads to a destruction of cells in a part of the brain called the striatum. ReNeuron has transplanted cells from its mouse neural stem cell line into monkeys designed to act as models of Huntington's patients. "We have shown the cell line will transplant into the monkey brain - and that it will restore function," says John Sinden, ReNeuron's chief scientist. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Huntingtons; Stem Cells
Link ID: 1529 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Copyright © 2002 Scripps Howard News Service By LEE BOWMAN, Scripps Howard News Service - When it comes to sexual attraction, does the nose lead the heart? So it would seem from the marketing of any number of fragrances - particularly those products that claim to contain pheromones, which are scented sex hormones that supposedly bring about subconscious attraction. But the science of pheromones, while still far from definitive, suggests that unlike lower mammals and other animals, humans don't seem to use pheromones to guide them to a mate, but do get some useful signals from subliminal scents. Copyright © 2001 Nando Media

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste)
Link ID: 1528 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Donna Leinwand, USA TODAY WASHINGTON — The number of teenagers using the club drug Ecstasy could double in five years and is rising at such an alarming rate that leading anti-drug advocates will launch a campaign against it Monday. In a survey of 6,937 teens nationwide last year by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, 12% say they have tried Ecstasy at least once. That's up from 10% in 2000 and 5% in 1995. Despite recent studies indicating that Ecstasy impairs memory and damages the brain, many kids continue to see it as a harmless "peace and love" drug. Partnership research indicates an additional 11% of the teen population is likely to try it in the next five years. Drug specialists say Ecstasy's rise in popularity comes as teens' use of most other drugs is declining or holding steady. Ecstasy now ranks behind only alcohol and marijuana in use by teens, analysts say. About 41% of teens say they have tried marijuana, and 53% say they have consumed alcohol in the past year. © Copyright 2002 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 1527 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Imaging Scans Used To Study Dour Outlook By Shankar Vedantam Washington Post Staff Writer A region of the brain a few inches behind the bridge of the nose may hold the key to why some people have a negative outlook on life, scientists announced yesterday. The study published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is the first to examine the neurological roots of what scientists call "negative affect," a trait that predisposes people to anxiety, irritability, anger and a range of other unpleasant moods. By suggesting that an unconscious disposition toward these emotions may be molded by a specific area in the brain, the research moves into previously uncharted waters. It is part of a broad effort by neuroscientists in recent years to use powerful brain imaging technology to pinpoint the areas of the brain responsible for various emotions. © 2002 The Washington Post Company

Keyword: Emotions; Brain imaging
Link ID: 1526 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Victims Learn Dangerous Behavior SAN DIEGO -- Anorexia Nervosa is considered one of the deadliest mental illnesses around. But instead of helping victims learn to overcome the eating disorder, dozens of Web sites actually promote, teach and support the disease. "There's a camaraderie there that people are seeking, in a very sad and tragic way," Dr. Trish Stanley said. Neely Weir started suffering from the disease in 8th grade. Now recovered, Weir helps other teens and finds pro-anorexia sites disturbing. © 2002, Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. and The McGraw-Hill Companies.

Keyword: Anorexia & Bulimia
Link ID: 1525 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Study: In-Vitro Twins, Triplets Prone To Brain Disorders By Rick Weiss Washington Post Staff Writer Children conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF) are significantly more likely to have neurological complications and developmental delays -- but virtually all those problems are linked to IVF's high prevalence of twin and triplet pregnancies, according to a new Swedish study. The report, one of very few to follow IVF babies through more than a decade of childhood, strengthens the notion that fertilization outside the body does not in itself seem to affect development. But it also offers powerful impetus for doctors to adopt techniques to reduce the incidence of multiple births with IVF. Unfortunately, experts said, the question of how best to accomplish that goal remains a major point of contention among fertility specialists, who help couples bring some 50,000 IVF babies into the world annually. © 2002 The Washington Post Company

Keyword: Development of the Brain
Link ID: 1524 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Chronicle Staff Report Scientists are a step closer to understanding why ice cream feels cold -- and coincidentally, it has something to do with the cool, refreshing flavor of mint. In a report published today, University of California at San Francisco researchers describe a microscopic gateway on the surface of nerve cells that responds identically to either a cold stimulus or to the chemical menthol, an active ingredient in mint. Menthol will cause certain receptors on the surface of nerve cells to spring open, flooding the cells with ions and triggering an electrical signal. The researchers used genetic engineering techniques to isolate the menthol receptors. Next, they determined that these receptors also respond to cold temperatures -- opening up ion channels and delivering the same electrical signal to the brain. ©2002 San Francisco Chronicle Page A - 4

Keyword: Pain & Touch
Link ID: 1523 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Newton's study challenges notions of civilisation Why do tales of children being raised by wild animals capture the imagination of the public? According to Michael Newton, author of a new book entitled Savage Girls And Wild Boys, the fascination lies in the notion that human beings can be stripped back to their base level. Speaking to BBC World Service's Everywoman programme, he explained: "I think we are fascinated by the question, 'what makes us a human being?' "These stories represent a sense of the essence of the human being. What we would be like if we were outside of society - what are we like essentially?" (C) BBC

Keyword: Language; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 1522 - Posted: 02.11.2002

TOM CLARKE A snowball in the face or a chilly breeze around the ankles opens a molecular trap door in our skin's nerve cells, two studies now show1,2 . A third suggests that this, the first cold sensor to be identified, is just the tip of the iceberg3. How sensory neurons detect a drop in temperature is very hard to study because it affects so many cell processes. David Julius of the University of California, San Francisco, and his colleagues resorted to using menthol, which has the same effects on cold-sensitive nerves as a drop in temperature. "Technically it is much easier to use a chemical," says Julius. * McKemy, D. D., Neuhausser, W. M. & Julius, D. Identification of a cold receptor reveals a general role for TRP channels in thermosensation. Nature advance online publication, (2002). © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2002

Keyword: Pain & Touch
Link ID: 1521 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Recovering from depression may be tougher for certain groups of patients: elderly women, the less educated, those with neurotic traits and the medically ill, according to a new study. "It is essential to develop and test active treatments for depression that will be more effective in these populations," says lead study author Wayne Katon, M.D., of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. "Treatments involving longer-term and more intensive specialty mental health treatment may be necessary," he added. Katon and colleagues studied nearly 300 depressed individuals ranging in age from 18 to 90. All had experienced symptoms of depression for at least two years. The researchers treated the study participants in one of three ways: with an antidepressant medication called paroxetine, problem-solving therapy or a placebo.

Keyword: Depression
Link ID: 1520 - Posted: 02.11.2002

WASHINGTON - It is estimated that 15-57 percent of older adults experience some form of chronic depression for a period of time later in their lives, according to recent research, and this may compromise their ability to fight off infections and cancers. Lead researcher, Lynanne McGuire, Ph.D., of John Hopkins School of Medicine and co-authors Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser, Ph.D., and Ronald Glaser, Ph.D., of Ohio State University College of Medicine found that even chronic, sub-clinical mild depression may suppress an older person's immune system. Those with chronic mild depression had poorer lymphocyte -T cell responses to 2 mitogens at the follow up 18 months later. And the older a person was, the poorer the immune response was to mitogens - a model for how the body responds to outside agents, like viruses and bacteria. Reported on in this month's Journal of Abnormal Psychology , published by the American Psychological Association (APA) is an 18-month prospective study of 78 older adults (average age of 72.5 years old) that compared those who suffer from chronic depression (22) and those who don't (56) on their ability to generate enough white blood cells to fight off an infectious agent. Participants were part of a larger, longitudinal study on stress and health of caregivers of adults with dementia. Forty of the participants were caregiving for spouses with dementia. And 38 of the participants were not caregivers and recruited from newspaper advertisements, church groups and other local neighborhood referrals. The non-depressed group included 25 caregivers and 31 non-caregivers and the depressed group included 15 caregivers and seven non-caregivers. Females accounted for 64 percent in both the depressed and non-depressed group. © PsycNET 2002 American Psychological Association

Keyword: Depression; Stress
Link ID: 1519 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By SARAH LYALL LONDON, — The British government is struggling to quell fears about a common childhood vaccine that increasing numbers of parents believe may be linked to autism, despite strong official assurances to the contrary. At issue is the so-called MMR vaccine, which immunizes children against measles, mumps and rubella, three potentially deadly diseases that were once common and have been mostly wiped out. The government says that the vaccine, which is administered in two doses, the first when babies are about 18 months old, is perfectly safe. The issue has become a serious political headache for Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has been under pressure from the press as well as parents' groups to say whether his 20-month-old son, Leo, has had the vaccine. Mr. Blair has refused to answer but has strongly implied that Leo has been or will be inoculated, saying that he would be unlikely to tell other parents to do something that he was unwilling to do himself. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Autism
Link ID: 1518 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By PEGGY ORENSTEIN Patrick T. is prone to citing Oscar Wilde and the physicist Michio Kaku. He's so well spoken, his manners polished to such a high gloss, that -- aside from the fact that he's been a methamphetamine addict and career criminal since age 13 whose only formal education is a high-school degree earned in juvenile detention -- he could blend easily into a gathering of witty young professionals. Certainly he is equally engaged by his work. Until recently, Patrick often earned his living robbing drug dealers and the occasional small business. "There's a lot of thought and energy that goes into getting loaded and planning a crime," he explains. "It's dramatic -- the excitement, the carefree feeling that comes when you succeed. That's not something that happens in the monotone of everyday life. That's why for me, feeding my mind and spirit will be as important as anything I do in terms of abstaining. Because if I get bored. . . . " He lets the threat hang, unspoken. Patrick is 30, tall and rangy, with sandy, short-cropped hair and a neatly trimmed goatee. He and I are in the small library of Center Point, a substance-abuse treatment facility in San Rafael, Calif., about half an hour north of San Francisco, where he is enrolled in a six-month residential program. Patrick is a "retread": this is his second time through here in a year, initially in exchange for a suspended sentence on charges of possessing drugs and stolen property. He completed the program last June and got a job restoring boats in Sausalito, convinced that his own ship had finally come in. But within five weeks he had moved from swallowing pain pills for a bad back to downing a couple of beers with his older brother. Then he started lighting up a few joints. In less than two months, he headed to San Francisco on a meth binge. He had planned to stay high until his money ran out, he was arrested for violating probation or he died. But one night, holed up in a transient hotel with an old crime partner and a prostitute, Patrick had a revelation. "I was suddenly disgusted with the whole scene," he recalls. "I had this thought -- or this thought was given to me -- that I just couldn't do it anymore. I just couldn't." He called Center Point and said he needed help. Within 24 hours he was back. As Patrick talks, members of ''the family,'' as the 40 clients here call one another, drift in and out, browsing through the self-help books that line one of the room's walls or -- since the program frowns on privacy -- listening to our conversation. A disheveled heroin addict who has been through six treatment programs in 11 years comes in to sharpen a pencil. After he leaves, Patrick says, ''What scares me are people like him, who are intelligent. That can be one of the biggest obstacles. You substitute intellectual understanding for actual change.'' Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 1517 - Posted: 02.10.2002

Sudden movements as simple as jumping when the doorbell rings can trigger a stroke, research suggests. Scientists from Tel Aviv University studied 150 people who had suffered an ischemic stroke, the most common form and one caused by a blood clot blocking blood flow in an artery in the brain. They found that in more than one in five cases abrupt changes in body position caused by sudden loud noises, calls for help or other unexpected events had occurred within two hours before the start of the stroke. (C) BBC

Keyword: Stroke
Link ID: 1514 - Posted: 02.09.2002

Bruce Bower The past decade has witnessed a wave of new medications to treat schizophrenia, a debilitating mental disorder that afflicts 1 in 100 people. Armed with results from their own studies, various pharmaceutical companies tout the new drugs, the so-called atypical antipsychotics, as superior to traditional antipsychotic drugs in the battle against schizophrenia. However, it may be time to lower expectations for atypical antipsychotics. A new investigation, funded largely by the federal government, finds that treatment with any of three of these medications diminishes chronic schizophrenia symptoms only slightly more than a traditional antipsychotic drug does. “Atypical antipsychotics work better than standard medications, but their advantage is relatively modest, at least for chronic schizophrenia,” says study coauthor Jeffrey A. Lieberman, a psychiatrist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Although atypical antipsychotics often induce a weight gain of 5 to 12 pounds, Lieberman adds, they’re much less likely than traditional antipsychotics to cause severe movement disorders. Lewis, D.A. 2002. Atypical antipsychotic medications and the treatment of schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry 159(February):177-179. From Science News, Vol. 161, No. 6, Feb. 9, 2002, p. 83. Copyright ©2002 Science Service. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Schizophrenia
Link ID: 1513 - Posted: 06.24.2010